HAYWARD -- A friendship between two men ended tragically Sunday: one man shot dead unintentionally by police; the other, who police say prompted the shooting, now faces charges in his friend's death.

Family and friends on Wednesday said Shawn Joseph Jetmore Stoddard-Nunez asked Arthur Pakman for a ride to another friend's house early Sunday after a night of drinking.

What happened next was something out of character for 19-year-old Stoddard-Nunez, a "sweet person" with a gentle smile who was in the wrong passenger seat at the wrong time, they said.

Police said Pakman defied orders during a traffic stop, rammed his Honda into a police cruiser, nearly hitting a civilian riding along with police. The officer fired at the vehicle, striking Stoddard-Nunez, a passenger in the Honda, twice. Police said he was an unintended victim of the shooting.

Pakman, 23, of Oakley had met Stoddard-Nunez while he was living in Pinole and attending Pinole Valley High School, Hale said. Another family friend said they knew each other from the foster care system.

At 14, Stoddard-Nunez came to live with Hale in Pinole after bouncing between foster homes throughout California. He and his brother were moved into a group home in 2011 after they were the victims of a home invasion perpetrated by their friends, according to Hale.

Recently, Stoddard-Nunez was attending a Laney College, had aspirations to be a chef and was living in Hayward with his brother.

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"Just a sweet person. Very gentle and easygoing," said Mary Lou Schuler of Hayward, whose foster daughter and biological daughter, both 18, were close with him. "He'd come in the door, wave and always say hello. Not all the kids who would come into my house would have the courtesy to do so."

Schuler said the teen's death was unnecessary.

"What rattles me is that the police officer shot at the passenger's side, not the driver's side of the car," Schuler said. "The officer reacted without thinking about where he was shooting. I know it was an act considered as an assault on an officer but it just seems so reckless and irresponsible."

Pakman was arrested at 3:20 a.m. Sunday. He surrendered after fleeing the shooting scene at Fletcher Lane and Watkins Street and crashing at D Street and Foothill Boulevard.

On Wednesday, police said they suspect Pakman may have been driving under the influence at the time of the incident. Authorities are awaiting a toxicology report from a blood test taken after the crash.

Sgt. Eric Krimm said authorities will seek homicide charges against Pakman in connection with Stoddard-Nunez's death, although he has yet to be formally charged. He was arrested on suspicion of felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Pakman was to be arraigned Tuesday at the Hayward Hall of Justice, but that hearing was postponed so Pakman could be sent to the Contra Costa County Jail, where he will be held without bail for a parole violation, a prosecutor said.

Pakman's Hayward-based attorney, Frederick Remer, said the violation stemmed from a 2010 conviction for driving under the influence.

Remer has said his client was on his way to visit his girlfriend in Richmond on the morning of the incident and never intended to strike the police car.

Police had been looking into whether the wreck played a role in the victim's death, but an autopsy Tuesday showed Stoddard-Nunez died from a gunshot wound.

Had Stoddard-Nunez lived, he likely would not have been charged with a crime in connection with the chase, Krimm said.